Last week I was smart enough to attend the half-day TH(ink) E-Readers 2010 Summit in NYC (www.thinkereadersummit.com). This event was on the tail end of a longer conference. The Publishing Business Conference ran from March 8 - 10th, and it was produced by Book Business and Publishing Executive. I couldn't make it to New York until the 10th; next year I hope to attend the whole shebang.

The e-reader summit was presented by mediaIDEAS, a research and consulting firm that focuses on the future of publishing, and the Publishing Business Conference. The infamous Bob Sacks "Bosacks" is one of mediaIDEAS senior analysts, and I attended the summit especially to meet Bob/Bo (www.bosacks.com). He did not disappoint.

While I attend commercial printing trade shows and print buyer events, my interest extends outward - far beyond commercial print - to Communications in general.

My position is this: If those of us in and of the printing industry don't keep up with trends and technologies in Communications, we're operating in a vacuum. I'd go one step further: I'd say we're doomed.

I'm interested in all media that deliver content to us, period. Print is my springboard.

Among the topics discussed at this first-ever summit were the main types of e-readers. (My only personal experience with this technology is with the Kindle I bought for my husband. It is now passed from him to our teenage son to (very occasionally) me, as we fight over who gets it next.)

One of the summit speakers was Nick Hampshire, Senior Analyst and Partner, mediaIDEAS (www.mediaideas.net). He is widely acknowledged to be a leading expert on the subject of the e-paper display-based e-reader market. He's written over 20 books on IT and is an authority in digital publishing. Nick was a "virtual speaker," all the way from the UK. We watched him on a PC monitor that sat on a table on the stage. He spoke for an hour. I learned loads.

In today's Print Tip, I want to share some interesting facts about e-readers, courtesy of Nick Hampshire. When you hear the term "e-reader," you likely think of the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes & Noble Nook. In fact, there are over 50 e-readers available. Nick covered the market - and the types of e-readers - in a fact-filled, easy-to-follow presentation.

E-Reader History

The first e-reader dates back to 1988, when the EO Personal Communicator came out.

In 1994, there was the Apple Newton. Its original name was Message Pod.

Two years later, a UK-based firm unveiled the Acorn Newspad, which was designed for the publishing industry. Alas, it was a very heavy e-reader and its battery only lasted 2 hours.

By 1997, all e-readers had ceased production. Nick spelled out why:

• All of the ideas/prototypes were ahead of their time.

• They weren't robust enough.

• They were too pricey.

• They were heavy.

• They had a short battery life.

• Their display quality was poor.

• There was a lack of suitable content for these devices.

In 2004, Sony launched its Librie - but in Japan only.

Today, there are over 50 e-reader devices, not including the iPad. This number will double in the next 12 months.

What Makes E-Readers Tick?

E-paper is the key enabling technology of e-readers. It was developed by E Ink (which was acquired last summer by Taiwan-based Prime View for a cool $215 million). In Nick's words, e-paper defines an e-reader. It uses reflective, ambient light. Nick listed the key characteristics of an e-paper e-reader:

• The display is readable in ambient light.

• Good display resolution and contrast.

• Larger display screen.

• Device size is good (as in, shows you much of a printed page on the screen).

• Device is robust.

• Ease of use.

• Low power consumption.

• Internal display storage.

• Connectivity.

This technology will continue to evolve substantially, Nick noted. E-readers will all move to multi-touch techniques, like the iPad, he said, abandoning the keyboard and stylus models.

There will be a steady decline in unit prices. During the second half of this decade, unit prices will drop below $100, making them more ubiquitous.

Differences between E-Readers

Nick described the 3 main categories of e-readers:

1. Rigid displays - like the Kindle and the Nook.

2. Bendable - but only slightly, "like cardboard." The unit requires a rigid casing. It's ideal for displays that are larger than 9" screens.

3. Rollable, foldable displays - just like a sheet of paper. Such technology will add to the unit's cost.

By 2020, the majority of e-readers will have bendable displays. WiFi will be available in 85% of e-readers as well.

One of the problems with current e-reader technology is that there are multiple content formats, which only serves to fragment the market. The 3 major formats for content are PDF, XML standard, and Flash.

By 2020, all e-readers will use XML-based content. There will be 2 divergent categories of e-readers, and the content format for each will be different:

1. Under 9" screens:

   • book e-readers

2. Over 9" screens:

   • Paper replacement/newspaper e-readers

   • Magazine e-readers

There are currently 4 categories of growth in the market:

1. Rollable/portable (under 9" screen)

2. E-book e-readers (under 9" screen)

3. Paper replacement/newspaper e-readers (larger than 9" screen)

   Monochrome displays. He named 2: Skiff and QUE.

4. Magazine e-readers (much larger display, with high-quality color)

   Fujitsu makes one already, the FLEPia Color E-Book, available in Japan.

These will further converge into 3 categories:

• the under 9" in rollable e-readers with smart phones;

• the under 9" ebook readers with under 9" tablets;

• both of the over 9" e-readers with over 9" tablets.

The trend, noted Nick, is toward all e-reader formats being XML-compliant.

Love them or loathe them, the e-readers are coming at us fast and furiously. They symbolize the ever-growing trend of getting our information, including our reading material, in electronic format on one device or another. Does this impact those of us in and of the printing industry? You betcha. The e-readers are being developed specifically for books, newspapers and magazines. Can direct marketing materials be far behind?

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